


all these empty rooms (watching the hours tick by)

by patientalien



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton
Genre: M/M, Pining, sort of but not quite unrequited love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 09:28:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patientalien/pseuds/patientalien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xanatos du Crion pines for Obi-Wan</p>
            </blockquote>





	all these empty rooms (watching the hours tick by)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [citizenjess (givehimonemore)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/givehimonemore/gifts).



> This was supposed to be for Christmas, but now it is for Valentine's Day. <3 Jess.

It's quiet today, little to do besides the day to day running of his various business enterprises. Xanatos du Crion will only admit it to himself, but the quiet tends to get a bit stifling at times. Not that he wants to be around people, generally. No, his is a solitary existence, one fraught with anger and bitterness which he has carefully cultivated into a persona befitting a former, fallen Jedi.

That persona would never admit that he missed the company of a certain current Jedi Padawan, after all. Still, he'll admit to himself a certain... melancholy... today as he roams his mansion, room to empty room. It's a strange feeling, this odd ache. He hadn't been able to figure out exactly how to quench it, how to move beyond it. Not without the obvious step, of course. But no - giving into the temptation is too risky so soon, even if it is all he wants, all that fills his mind.

It's strange, he thinks, how easily it happened. How easily he's come to enjoy the time spent together, even if that time is under duress. His frequent captive, once over the initial shock, is always a good conversationalist - if somewhat combative. Xanatos can't fault him for that, truly, and besides, it makes things more interesting.

As does the young man's stamina. Xanatos isn't sure if he is consciously trying to impress, but he does, every time. Sliding their bodies together, pressing Xanatos further inside of him, even as he protests the treatment, even as he bemoans the frequency. It's not frequent enough, Xanatos thinks.

He knows it can never be a permanent arrangement. His captive has a duty of his own and Xanatos knows that to remove him from it forever would not be in their best interests. Still, it is tempting. He has drawn up offers and contracts that would bind the boy to him forever, but each time he shreds them apart and burns the pieces. To have the boy in that way would be to lose him.

So Xanatos continues his solitary vigil, his nightly walks alone until it is time again to make his presence known. There is no greater feeling than the anticipation that comes just before the grab, just before he feels the boy's body melt under his touch. It is of itself a sexual experience, a growing desire, a heightened arousal that peaks as he strikes and Obi-Wan Kenobi is once again his.

It's a matter of biding his time, waiting until the perfect moment because moving too soon puts him in danger of meeting up with Obi-Wan's Master, and Xanatos is well past the point of trying to exact revenge on Qui-Gon Jinn. Too late and he will have lost his opportunity, so timing, timing, is of the essence.

He is not the risk-taker in this endeavor he once was. Initially, he was not sure what would come of his plots and scheming; he'd assumed he would be able to get the better of his former Master through his current Padawan and then Obi-Wan had proven himself resourceful and clever and altogether far too desirable to allow to be merely a temporary fixture in Xanatos' life. And thus began the unlikely courtship, and if pressed he's sure Obi-Wan would agree that not all of it has been without his consent.

He's said as much, in the lulls. That what occurs is not unpleasant in every way, that the dinners and operas and museum visits on far-flung worlds feel more like dates than kidnappings. And that is the point, the idea behind it all, the seduction and the graceful dance they do around each other, with each other and apart.

It's almost time, he knows. Almost time for the next rendezvous, almost time to move once more, because Obi-Wan is two systems over. The rule is no contact while he is on a mission, but this is not a mission. This is a furlough, a meditative retreat. There is no embargo on those. Everything is prepared; the ballet tickets procured, the dinner reservations made, the bedroom prepared. Obi-Wan will protest, of course, he always does. But he always gives in.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is an enigma, even after all this time. A beacon of Light within the Force, yet surly and contrary. A formidable opponent in battle, yet preferring quietude. It is these contradictions that draw others to him, even a mere Padawan, wielding more power over the whims of others than Jedi three times his age. He is a puzzle, a riddle that Xanatos hopes he will never truly solve.

Solving the riddle of Obi-Wan would mean losing the spontaneity, losing the desire and ability to control and dominate such a strong will. It's the thrill of the chase, the element of the unknown. Losing the unknown means losing the thrill, and that just won't do.

Even so, the loneliness is unbearable, the anticipation intoxicating. In these empty halls, the echoes of life. Instead of sitting with them, drowning in them, Xanatos du Crion prepares his ship for departure, and for an all-too-brief reprieve.

-end-


End file.
